Otto Octopus

Otto the octopus didn’t like lights, so he figured out how to turn them off.

At just six months old, Otto the octopus managed to do something few animals—let alone invertebrates—have ever done: intentionally short out an aquarium’s electrical system.

Night after night, staff at the Sea Star Aquarium in Coburg, Germany, were puzzled by unexplained power outages.

Eventually, they discovered the culprit. Otto had learned to climb the side of his tank and squirt water directly at a 2,000-watt spotlight above him. The water shorted the light, causing a full power failure. No one taught him to do it—though he had been trained to squirt water at visitors, not the infrastructure.

Why did Otto do it? Some believe he was irritated by the heat or brightness of the light. Others suspect he enjoyed the reaction—a mix of cause-and-effect curiosity and clever rebellion. When staff offered him new toys, including a chessboard, he played for a while before launching it from the tank. Otto’s story is more than a charming tale of cephalopod antics; it’s a powerful reminder that intelligence can evolve in very different ways. While humans look for cleverness in primates or dolphins, Otto proves a sharp, curious mind can emerge even in the deep sea—sometimes just looking to dim the lights.

Source:
“The Story Of An Octopus Named Otto.” NPR, 2008.